INS Vagir

Context : The fifth Scorpene class conventional submarine was commissioned into the Indian Navy as INS Vagir in the presence of Chief of Naval Staff Admiral R. Hari Kumar at Naval Dockyard Mumbai on Monday. The sixth and last of the French-origin Scorpène-class submarines being built in India under technology transfer is currently undergoing sea-trials and will be delivered to the Navy in 2024, the original manufacturer Naval Group.

INS Vagir

• INS Vagir (S25) is the fifth submarine of the first batch of six Kalvari-class submarines for the Indian Navy.
  • The Kalvari-class submarines have the capability of operating in a wide range of Naval combat including anti-warship and anti-submarine operations, intelligence gathering and surveillance, and naval mine laying.
• It is a diesel-electric attack submarine based on the Scorpène class, designed by French naval defence and energy group Naval Group and manufactured by Mazagon Dock Limited, an Indian shipyard in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
• The submarine inherits its name from INS Vagir (S41) which served in the Navy from 1973–2001, and was named after a species of sandfish.
• The submarine is designed to operate in all theatres of operation, showcasing interoperability with other components of a Naval Task Force.
• It can launch attacks with both torpedoes and tube launched anti-ship missiles, whilst underwater or on surface.
• It can undertake multifarious types of missions i.e Anti-Surface warfare, Anti-Submarine warfare, Intelligence gathering, Mine Laying, Area Surveillance, etc.

Kalvari-class background

• Vagir is a Kalvari-class submarine, which includes other vessels, such as the INS Kalvari, INS Khanderi, INS Karanj, INS Vela and INS Vagsheer. Of these, Kalvari and Khanderi were commissioned in 2017 and 2019, and Vela and Karanj were inducted in 2021. Vagir has now been commissioned and Vagsheer was launched in 2022 and is expected to be inducted next year.
• The submarines in the current Kalvari-class take their names from erstwhile decommissioned classes of submarines named Kalvari, which included Kalvari, Khanderi, Karanj and Vela classes — comprising Vela, Vagir, Vagshir. The now-decommissioned Kalvari and Vela classes were one of the earliest submarines in the post-independence Indian Navy, which belonged to Soviet origin Foxtrot class of vessels.
• In maritime parlance, a class of ships is a group of vessels which have the same make, purpose and displacement. In the Navy and Coast Guard in India, the ships belonging to a particular class are named in a specific manner. Many times, the names have the same first letters, prefixes, and similar meanings or the names belong to a particular type of word, for example, names of cities, persons, mythological concepts, animals, rivers, mountains, weapons, etc. The class is generally named after the first vessel in the category. In some cases, a particular class of vessels take their names from an earlier class of vessels which are now decommissioned.
• Like Kalvari – which means Tiger Shark, Vagir has been named after a Sand Fish, a predatory marine species. Khanderi has been named after an Island Fort built by Chhatrapati Shivaji, which played a key role in his Navy. Karanj has also been named after an Island located South of Mumbai.

Capabilities and technical details of INS Vagir

• The design of the Kalvari-class of submarines is based on the Scorpene class of submarines designed and developed by French defence major Naval Group formerly DCNS and the Spanish state-owned entity Navantia. This class of submarines have Diesel Electric transmission systems and these are primarily attack submarines or ‘hunter-killer’ types which means they are designed to target and sink adversary naval vessels.
• The Kalavari class of submarines have an estimated endurance of approximately 50 days. They also have the capability of operating in a wide range of Naval combat including anti-warship and anti-submarine operations, intelligence gathering and surveillance and naval mine laying. These submarines are around 220 feet long and have a height of 40 feet. It can reach the highest speeds of 11 knots (20 km/h) when surfaced and 20 knots (37 km/h) when submerged
• The modern variants of the Scorpene class of submarines have what is called Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) which enables non-nuclear submarines to operate for a long time without access to surface oxygen. It also needs to be noted that the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has an ongoing programme to build a fuel cell-based AIP system for Indian Naval Submarines.”

Project 75

• After Kargil war in 1999, the Indian Government approved a 30-year submarine plan. The Project – 75 was brought under this new plan.
• Under the new plan, two parallel production lines of the submarines were called for.
• One was under the already running Project – 75 and the other was under Project – 75I (Project – 75 India).
• In 2005, under Project – 75, India signed a transfer of technology contract with the French.
  • Under this contract six Scorpene Class attack submarines were to be constructed at the Mazagon Dock Limited.
    • Scorpene is a conventional powered submarine weighing 1,500 tonnes and can go up to depths of 300m.
  • The first submarine INS  Kalvari was commissioned in December 2017, second submarine INS  Khanderi in September 2019, third one INS  Karanj in March 2021 and the fourth one INS  Vela joined service in November 2021.
  • Vagir, the fifth one, was launched into water on November 12, 2020 and commenced sea trials on February 1, 2022.
  • The sixth and last of the Scorpène-class submarines,  Vagsheer, was launched into water in April 2022 and is expected to be delivered to the Navy by end 2023.
• Parallelly, the tender to build six more advanced conventional submarines under Project-75I is in the Request For Proposal (RFP) stage but has suffered delays.